Marinette stirred in her sleep as the bright light began to interrupt her sleep. She rolled over to her side, hoping to escape the seething light.

But then felt the bed dip beside her and a movement on her waist. Her eyes immediately shot open in panic as she tried to turn around to see whatever was there.

"I don't think you should turn around, princess. I'm not transformed." It was only when she heard the voice that she breathed in relief. She looked down at the hand on her waist. Tan fair skin with a silver ring in the middle finger.

It was only Catnoir, she sighed in relief. It was only Catnoir. It took only a second for her to register the statement. It was Catnoir, currently not transformed, pressed up against her. She slowly recalled the events of the last night tho it wasn't so clear. Trying not to show too much panic, she let out unsteady breaths. Her cheeks flushing.

"Morning, princess." He shivered lightly when he whispered into her ear feeling his hot breath on her skin. She felt his hand brush away her hair strands falling over her face. His fingers brushed her skin and her cheeks tinted slightly.

Whoever he was, his skin was soft and warm. She placed her hand on his when it rested back on her waist. Then she intertwined their fingers. She really liked the feel of his hand. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Much.." She whispered.

"That's good to hear." He muttered back. There was a longer silence after that, neither of them spoke, only kept moving closer to the other subtly. It was that they knew the moment had to end sooner or later since the morning was breaking and they had personal things to do. But it felt like talk would make it end sooner.

So they enjoyed each other's warmth in silence.

"I wish we could do this more often. I like holding your hand without the glove." He whispered knowing that she couldn't see him to know just how much he was blushing. He did have to say at one point, when better than when she couldn't see him.

She hummed in response, "Me too."

"We could make it work, if you want." He nuzzled his face into her hair, wafting the scent of strawberries. "How?" She asked genuinely curious.

"You could turn around and see who I am." He shrugged like it was nothing but his reply left her wide-eyed in shock. She frowned annoyed that he would even think that. "Of course not! That's careless of you too say." She yanked at his arm.

He chuckled, imagining the angry pout that would've been on her lips, "It's not careless, I trust you so I don't mind."

She felt flattered for a moment but then she shook herself back to normal. "It doesn't matter. Ladybug would kill you if she found out." And she was dead serious. But he wouldn't know that of course. "It doesn't matter what she thinks. She wouldn't understand how I feel about you."

He said the last line so softly that it made something in her shift so she asked back in a whisper, "How do you feel about me?"

He rubbed small circles on her hand with his thumb, "Princess, I..."

"Marinette, hunny! Are you up yet?" Her mum called out from downstairs, "It's almost 10 and Alya's called to say she's on her way!"

Marinette immediately shot up from the bed, and then she clamped her eyes over her eyes after almost seeing Adrien. "I'll be down in a sec! Don't come up!" She yelled back.

Adrien sat up too hearing the time. He knew since it was the holiday and his morning schedule was clear, Nathalie usually let him sleep in but it was late and he was certain she was already getting suspicious.

He turned to Marinette, he really didn't want to leave her. "You can open your eyes, you know." He meant what he said. He was perfectly okay with her knowing who he was. "You know I can't, if I ever get akumatizated, Shadow moth would get your Miraculous. We wouldn't want that."

He sighed and decided not to argue, she was just as stubborn as Ladybug. He had to admit it was one of the most irresistible things about her. He moved closer and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Plagg! Plagg!" He whisper-called as he slid off the bed.

"Go, your owner needs to transform." Tikki whispered to Plagg in their hiding spot. With a groan, he finally agreed after a proper goodbye to his sugar cube.

"Seriously? You're already done with your girlfriend?" Both teens blushed furiously at Plagg's statement. "We're just friends!" They both echoed simultaneously.

"Yeah...sure you are..." He sarcastically replied and Adrien unable to bear any more teasing, transformed quickly.

"You can open your eyes now." She slowly fluttered her eyes open when she heard him speak. Looking up, it was Catnoir smiling down at her. A smile automatically formed on her lips as she reached forward to hug him.

Even as she kneeled upright on the bed, she was still much shorter than him as he stood. When they pulled away, he placed his hand to the side of her face, and she tilted her head back to stare up at him.

He arranged the hair strands falling on her face and they took a moment to smile at the other, sharing a perfect moment of silent understanding, pleading their gestures to speak louder words than they would ever speak.

"You have to go." She whispered breaking the silence.

"I don't want to." He leaned down towards her and she had to take in a breath. Then she closed her eyes when he leaned in all the way. But was disappointed when she felt his lips on her cheek, way too close to her lips.

She opened her eyes when the warm air hit her skin. But he didn't pull away completely. He stayed close trailing his eyes all over her face. Her breath unsteadied when his gaze landed on her lips. Subconsciously, she took them between her lips.

That was a mistake.

Catnoir immediately backed up, feeling flustered, the gesture too much that he thought he would combust right then and there. "You're right! I have to go! I'll see you tonight." Before she could respond, he already climbed out of the hatch.

Marinette's expression dropped when he left, she turned to look at the hatch where he'd left from.

Almost immediately, most of the kwamis came flying out. A few zipped around her. "Oooh, it looked like you too were gonna kiss." Mullo squealed.

They didn't get any reaction out of her because she wasn't even paying attention, she just stared at the hatch. Tikki flew up to her concerned, "Marinette, are you okay?"

"He left so suddenly. Do you think it was something I did?" She muttered finally lowering her gaze.

"Stop at Marinette's please." Adrien told the bodyguard. And the car screeched to a halt in front of the bakery.

After his slight freak-out just because she 'bit her lips' , he finally managed to calm down. And since then he'd been excited. He would see her again. Sure it was different with Alya and Nino there and also the fact that he was a civilian rather than his alter ego, but it was still Marinette.

Any chance to see her, or even just catch a glimpse of her was amazing.

Adrien climbed out of the car immediately and rushed to the door. He took a breath before walking in. The bell jingling instantly getting the attention of the woman behind the counter. "Oh Adrien, it's just you. Marinette and the others are waiting for you upstairs." Sabine gestured towards the door leading up and he nodded.

He literally beamed before hurrying through the door and then up the stairs. He opened the door to enter the living room when someone almost bumped into him. Instinctively he caught her by the waist, her hands coming to rest on him.

He didn't need to look to know it was Marinette. Her scent immediately filled his nose. When he looked down at her, she was already staring wide-eyed at him, her cheeks flushed.

Completely ignoring the rest of them in the room, he allowed himself to be lost in her stare. There was a smear of flour on her cheek and some stuck in her hair but still she was undoubtedly precious. "Hey..." He whispered.

"H..Hi.." She whispered breathlessly.

They didn't move. It wasn't until they heard a click from the other side of the room. And a few more. Marinette pushed back and pulled away from him and looked across to find Alya holding her phone up and a few snickers from Nino and her dad.

"Oh Alya, you did not just..." She muffled into her palms groaning.

"Take a picture?" She swung her phone casually, "Of course I do. 'Friends' need to have memories to look back to." She made air quotes placing an extremely unnecessary emphasis on friends.

"Well, I'd like a copy." Tom sing-sung as he cleared the plates on the table.

Marinette's face burned in embarrassment, "Dad!"

"I'd like one too." Adrien smiled sheepishly, lowering his gaze to hide the blush on his cheeks too.

There was a few oohs and ahhs along with whistles from them embarrassing Adrien and Marinette even more. "I'll just go get the napkins." She covered her face and made her escape from the door before they could embarrass her further.

In a few, they were all downstairs and ready to go. "Are you sure you're feeling well enough to go?"

"I'm sure, mom." Marinette tried to reassure Sabine for the umpteenth time. "You know she'll never miss a chance to hang out with Adr- I mean, her friends." Tom placed his hand on Sabine's shoulder giving his daughter the look.

She narrowed her eyes at him and whined, "Dad!" They both chuckled as she frowned, "C'mon, guys let's go."

They made their way to Adrien's car. Adrien at the front and the rest of them at the back. He didn't want that. He wanted to be next to Marinette but he didn't want to make his feelings for her too obvious. So he had to hold it in.

When they got down from the car, Nino and Alya walked forward while Adrien made sure to walk slower so he and Marinette were behind them. He took every subtle glance he could her way.

She didn't notice though, she was more focused on the stalls, sightings and carollers in the markets. He like the gleam in her eyes. But he wanted to talk to her, have an actual long conversation, even if he wasn't Catnoir at the moment.

"Hey, so I haven't officially asked, but how are you?" He internally praised himself for starting off fine.

Keeping her inner frenzy at bay, Marinette smiled softly, "I'm great actually. I had someone take care of me." There was a far off look on her face, like whoever was making her smile was in her thoughts.

Well, standing beside her but she wouldn't know that. "That must've been nice." He muttered smiling back. Still in a daze, she sighed, "Yeah..."

But then she snapped out of it, "What about you? Is your dad back?"

Adrien's face fell, "No, not exactly. He won't be coming back till the end of the holiday." Marinette's eyes widened at his response, remorse filling her up, "That's- That's horrible."

He gave her a sad smile, "It's okay, it's not exactly the first time he's skipping."

"It doesn't mean you should get used to it! You know if you ever feel lonely, we're your friends and we're all here. You can even come spend Christmas with us, that is ..uh...if you'd like." Marinette actually surprised herself when she didn't stutter. It was like she never did when she was just being a usual friend to him, not someone trying to confess her 'crush' on him.

She thought about it. Maybe she should actually put more effort in being just that to him and not anything more. And if she was being honest, she didn't even know if she wanted anything more than that. At least not anymore.

Adrien's heart swelled at her request, she was just too incredibly sweet, he had to hold in the urge to just jump into her embrace. "I would love that." He beamed.

Marinette suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw something dangling from a stall. She walked closer to admire it. It was a silver locket in the shape of a heart. Adrien also stopped and watched her admire it, "Are you going to take it?"

She nodded in negation, "No, I'm here to buy gifts for people I care about, not me." She brushed it off and walked away from the stall. Adrien didn't follow behind her, he stayed back. He suddenly needed to get that locket.

They spent quite a while at the markets but then finally decided to call it a day. Adrien's bodyguard taking each of them home. Adrien talked as best he could with Marinette, noticing that she was being more open with him and he dreaded the moment she had to go too.

But he consoled himself, it would only be a few hours, he'd be with her again. He just had to be patient.

Patience was not his virtue when it came to her but after the excruciating wait, it was finally time to see her again. He vaulted through the rooftops as fast as he could. And the moment he landed on her balcony, he leaned down and knocked.

The wait was all worth it. To see her brilliant smile as she opened the hatch and looked up at him. So without wasting a second, he slid in and wrapped his arms around her, selfish for her warmth.

There was just no doubt, he knew he would do anything to be cocooned in that warmth forever.